One hero of 1973 thinks Na Piarsaigh are well set to end Limerick’s Croke Park hoodoo

Mikey Stafford

How fitting this week began with a celebration of Richie Bennis.

Limerick’s score-getter extraordinaire hit 10 points in the 1973 All-Ireland final as a dominant Kilkenny team were vanquished.

Remarkably that represents the last final victory at Croke Park for a senior team from the Treaty County – a run of 9 defeats that Limerick and Munster club champions Na Piarsaigh will hope to bring to an end tomorrow when they face Cushendall in the AIB All-Ireland senior club final.

Blackrock’s 2010 junior club triumph over Tyrone’s Naomh Colum Cille is the county’s sole final victory at headquarters since, but even that has to be balanced by three minor All-Ireland finals on Jones’ Road without a win.

Dé Domhnaigh seo 'théis GAA Beo! #laochragael #tg4 #luimneach #g'wanrichie https://t.co/vAoUKkgpNj

— Laochra Gael (@Laochra_Gael) March 8, 2016

Of course Bennis did have direct experience of two more All-Ireland finals with Limerick – both ending in defeat to Kilkenny.

There was defeat as a player in 1974 when the Cats gained immediate revenge for their defeat 12 months earlier before the Patrickswell clubman took Limerick to an unlikely final appearance as manager in 2007 – going down 2-19 to 1-15 to Brian Cody’s all-conquering Cats.

Bennis is not the only member of the 1973 team to manage a Limerick side to the September showpiece – Tom Ryan did it twice, losing to Offaly and Wexford in 1994 and 1996 respectively. He also brought his own club Ballybrown to an All-Ireland decider in 1990.

Ryan is confident Na Piarsaigh will go one step further than Ballybrown (1990), Patrickswell (1991) or Kilmallock (1993 and 2015) and end this 43-year curse.

“Tomorrow should be the day that Limerick break their hoodoo and win a national title in Croke Park,” Ryan told SportsJOE.

“The thing about finals though is you need a bit of luck. I had no bit of the rub of the green with any team I ever brought up there.”

In the opinion of Ryan (above) the club title is not only a realistic aim for Limerick hurling, but could prove a valuable morale boost for the intercounty scene on Shannonside.

“It is one competition that Limerick clubs have never been able to win. It is the holy grail of competitions. All but ruled out of winning an intercounty All-Ireland, it is one our clubs can very nearly win,” said Ryan.

“A win for Na Piarsaigh would give an awful boost to hurling in Limerick and it could only benefit the Limerick team to have these lads coming out of a successful club situation.

“Right now Limerick are playing without them and they are not doing too bad.”

The prospect of the likes of Shane Dowling and Kevin Downes coming back into TJ Ryan’s Limerick panel on the back of an All-Ireland triumph could be just the thing for a group preparing for a Munster SHC semi-final against the winners of Cork and Tipperary.

“I think not in a long time have we seen such quality of young players coming up in Limerick. The success of Na Piarsaigh will add to the pressure on TJ Ryan, but it is a good kind of pressure and I think it would do a pile of good. It would leave Limerick hurling in a good place – winning is a habit.”

Described by Ryan as “very progressive”, Na Piarsaigh are just an hour away from making Limerick history, less than 50 years after they were founded in the suburbs of Limerick city.

Standing in their way are a tough and determined Cushendall team, who have already made history by reaching the St Patrick’s Day decider. Ryan, stung often enough in Croke Park deciders, is worried about the Antrim champs. Even if he is backing Shane O’Neill’s side to get the job done.

“I’d be wary of Cushendall. They won’t give a fiddler’s fuck. It’s a unique game, but I fancied them from day one and am annoyed at myself for not backing them to go all the way.”

It’s a long time since Bennis, Ryan and the rest went all the way. Na Piarsaigh are just 60 minutes from history.